Woman spots family name in Victorian Ironbridge ledger

An amateur genealogist says she got "goose bumps" when she spotted her family name in a Victorian sales ledger gifted to her mum decades ago.

The 1,000-plus page book lists sales made by Beddoes ironmongers in Ironbridge, Shropshire, between 1895 and 1897.

It was given to Diane Perry's mum in the 1980s but left in a damp cupboard until last spring.

After patiently drying it out, her daughter made a discovery on page 331.

"I found an entry for my family name, which is Pinches, and I got goose bumps," said Mrs Perry, who lives in Ludlow.

"It was incredible to see their name and amazing to think we have this passion for Ironbridge - where my mum grew up as a child, where my uncle worked as a shop boy at Beddoes. And now we've got this beautiful book and a connection to the building and the history of the family."

Mrs Perry, who has been tracing her family tree for two years, discovered her great-great-grandfather and grandmother on her dad's side were named Pinches and lived and worked in Ironbridge in the 1890s.

She already had a strong connection to the town as her mum grew up there and was a freelance journalist who interviewed Beddoes' last owner before it closed in the 1980s. He was so pleased with the article he gave her the ledger as a thank you.

Though the cover has rotted from water damage, Mrs Perry has painstakingly dried out the pages which are all intact and filled with "beautiful Copperplate" writing.

The first entry is dated 25 July 1895 for a farrier who bought nails for "14,6" and the final entry 1,026 pages later is on 6 September 1897.

"It's fascinating, it's like a diary, so [on yesterday's date] in 1895 horse nails were sold to a blacksmith; today there's a dog muzzle, and a spindle and two brass rings.

"People were coming quite a distance and travelled miles to this ironmongers - Highley in Bridgnorth was still quite a long way [to travel] back then.

"Every time I turn a page I'm looking at a snapshot of history. I don't know if I'll [see the Pinches names again] but as long as I can read what's there, I will keep on looking and [tracing] my ancestry."

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